Trip from DC to Mobile, Alabama

[CaptBionic]

New to the forum so if this has been discussed, I apologize. 

I am in initial planning to bike from DC to Mobile, Alabama in Oct 2013. 

I would appreciate any advice offered!.........

[FredHiltz]

A great place to start is the How To Department linked at http://www.adventurecycling.org/. Check Routes and Maps for some nicely scouted and mapped routes. These will no doubt inspire some specific questions for the forum here.

Fred

[JHamelman]

Hello CaptBionic,


While we do not have a route with those specific endpoints, I suggest you take a look at the routes we have mapped to see which parts you could potentially use:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/network.cfm

Once you get to that page, in the right side navigation bar there is a link called Map of All ACA Routes that is a download of a pdf that clearly shows our network and how it intersects with itself.

The next step is to get in touch with the bicycle coordinators for the states in which you will be traveling through and need routing. Many have online resources as well as printed materials. Nearly every state publishes a bicycle map of some sort that they will send out for free and the coordinators often have more information they can distribute for no charge as well. And while the maps aren't as detailed as ours, they generally offer suggested roads for cycling through their state. Here is a link to the contact information for all of the bicycle coordinators:

http://www.walkinginfo.org/assistance/contacts.cfm

Hope this helps,
.Jennifer.

[staehpj1]

New to the forum so if this has been discussed, I apologize. 

I am in initial planning to bike from DC to Mobile, Alabama in Oct 2013. 

I would appreciate any advice offered!.........

Are you looking for the most direct route?  If so you will likely have to plan your own.  If not, you might consider taking the Atlantic Coast route to the Southern tier, or the Trans America to the Underground Railroad.

[CaptBionic]

Thank you Jennifer, everyone! You've given me some great places to start my research into this bike trip.  Good thing im not planning on going until 2013, cause I have some work to do planning!

Again, thanks.
Steve

[litespeed]

Here's a thought: You could go a few miles west from DC to Front Royal VA and get on the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway. At the end at Cherokee NC you could head west over the pass to Gatlinburg TN and on to the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace just south of Nashville. You could ride it to the end at Natchez and double back to Mobile. This would put you on very scenic, bicycle friendly roadways for 80-90% of your trip.

The Blue Ridge involves a lot of climbing and would be chilly in October. Also it requires a lot of planning, camping and packing your own food.

I haven't done either of these scenic roadways because they were never on my route but for your route I would certainly consider it.